SEATTLE — During batting practice for the MLB Home Run Derby, two-time champion Pete Alonso was sending balls to left field that only stayed in the ballpark by a couple of rows. He was no match for Julio Rodriguez’s history-making round on Monday night. But Rodriguez’s historic round was no match for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the end.
The contenders this year, outside of those three, were all swinging away in their first MLB Home Run Derby. That didn’t stop the evening from being electric at T-Mobile Park in Seattle and led to quite a few memorable moments.
Northwest native and Baltimore Orioles’ backstop Adley Rutschman put on a show that the home crowd ate up. Luis Robert Jr. made the Derby look easy for a round. Randy Arozarena started the evening off as the first batter, and was the last man up in the finals, hitting a total of 82 home runs. It represented the most of the evening.
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. follows in his father’s footsteps
Toronto’s first baseman last participated in the Derby when it was in Cleveland in 2019, reaching the finals before losing to Alonso. He won the All-Star Game MVP in 2021 when the game was in Colorado.
After winning the Derby on Monday night, Guerrero said that he was back because his family was asking him to participate. He jokingly said (through a translator) that he learned nothing from the experience in 2019. “Everyone is telling me to calm down, to slow down, but I just can’t. You’ve just got to continue to hit homers.”
After putting up 26 home runs in the first round to Mookie Betts’ 11, Vlad went on to face the hometown favorite in Julio Rodríguez, who had already eliminated Pete Alonso at that point. The crowd wasn’t behind Vladdy, but it didn’t matter. He matched Rodriguez’s 20 home run total by the end of his three allotted minutes before needing just three swings to get the home run he needed to push him into the finals.
Vladimir’s dad, Vladimir Guerrero, won the Home Run Derby in San Francisco in 2007 with a total of 17 home runs with the old Derby rules. With the new three-minute clock, Guerrero Jr. hit at last 21 homers in each of his three rounds. His father’s advice for the event was simple: “Hit home runs.”
When asked if he’d be back next season to defend his title, he said with how he’s feeling right now, the answer is no. He followed that up by saying “tomorrow” in English, as in ask him tomorrow.
Ju-li-o! Ju-li-o!
Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners was obviously going to be cheered furiously in his home ballpark, but the volumes that the Mariners’ faithful reached was something else.
In the final matchup of the first round, Rodriguez was paired with Alonso in what was expected to be an exciting matchup between the hometown favorite and the two-time champ. Rodriguez used a pretty effective strategy leading off that round and not knowing how many homers he’d need —he seemingly homered on every swing.
When a player hits two or three long balls in a row, the crowd really gets into it. It felt like he was hitting six, seven, eight in a row with how loud the crowd was getting. Each time a ball went over the fence it seemed like the crowd couldn’t possibly go up another decibel. Then Rodriguez would swing the bat one more time and they’d roar.
They’d chant “Ju-li-o! Ju-li-o! Ju-li-o!” After his record-setting round of 41 long balls, he thanked the crowd for helping him. He hit nine home runs in that final bonus minute to break the record, and even stepped away from home plate with a few seconds left.
In 2019 Vladimir Jr. set the then-record for a round at 40 and lost in the Derby. This year Julio set the new record but couldn’t quite bring it home. Still, he put on an unforgettable show for the home crowd. It’s also worth noting that there may have been more Rodríguez jerseys in the crowd than Ken Griffey Jr. jerseys.
More like Adley Crush-man
The other player that had a big “wow” round was Adley Rutschman, who put up 27 homers in the first round with his dad Randy pitching to him. The first two pitches he saw he took deep.
That total of 27 would have been good enough to eliminate eventual champion Vladimir Jr., and five of the seven other participants overall. The 25-year-old was up against number one seed Luis Robert Jr., however, and he tied Rutschman’s total in his three minutes, before bonus time. It was one heck of a first-round matchup.
But Rutschman’s performance was special because he was the only batter to swing left-handed the entire evening, and he was launching balls over the covered press box in right and into the auxiliary press box in right-center. Reporters didn’t think that they’d be in trouble in right-center, but when Rutschman started launching balls, a number of laptops closed.
Not only was it special that he was absolutely launching balls, but after his three minutes were up and his total sat at 21, he flipped around and hit right-handed for his bonus round and belted another six dingers on eight swings in 30 seconds. Those 30 seconds were magical inside the ballpark. Not only was everyone hyped up because he had flipped around, but then he just absolutely mashed!
Rutschman’s round is one that will stick in a lot of people’s memories for a long, long time. Being interviewed after his round and asked what he thought of his performance, having the highest tally on the night so far, he said “it’s a respectable total.”
Jason Burke covers Major League Baseball for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.